The Person Centred Theory

The Person Centred Theory is a humanistic phenomenological approach which was founded by Carl Rogers. Rogers was an American Psychologist and the founder of this approach, which he originally called "non-directive" counselling. Rogers believed that an individual see themselves and realises their full potential for their own growth and development. He called this "Self Actualisation". Rogers feels that when there is no correlation between experience and the individual perception of their self, that individual experiences anxiety and depression. This results in unpleasant feelings and psychological mechanisms occur leading to denial and distorts and blocks an individual's self-concept. The self-concept is central to Rogers' (1959) theory. This is defined as "the organised, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself". It consists of all the ideas and values that characterise 'I' and 'me' and includes perception and valuing of 'what I am' and 'what I can do'. Consequently, the self-concept is a central component of our total experience and influences both our perception of the world and …show more content…
It is used for counselling clients with the emphasis of a relationship between the client and the counsellor with more responsibility on the client. The client is encouraged to take control of the sessions. In return, the counsellor is expected to create the appropriate conditions for the therapy to be fully interactive and to make a stable relationship with the client that is trustworthy (Gross, 2010). The client must be made feel safe and encouraged to open up during the sessions. The counsellor is expected to be non-judgmental, empathic and understanding. The approach emphasises on creating a conducive environment. The Person Centred Approach is non-judgmental and is not